The Truth about Kitsap Area Weather

Let's be blunt:  the Puget Sound area has a reputation.  We here in the Pacific Northwest have a national (global?) reputation for rain, rain, rain.  What do you call two days of rain in Seattle?  A weekend.  (Ba dum dum...)

Like most stereotypes though, it hides a real truth:  we actually have AMAZING weather, compared to national averages.  While we do, um, enjoy a fairly soggy late fall through early spring . . . and it can seem to become a bit of a daily feature . . . the overlooked fact is that it is almost never SNOW.  While the rest of the country is digging out from feet of blizzards, we just go on about our daily business, armed merely with a good raincoat and new wiper blades - no studded tires or snow shovels necessary!  If you've ever lived in the upper Midwest or the northeast, you know what an extra workload a long, snowy winter gets to be.  We simply don't experience that here, ever.

We do usually get a LITTLE snow down here at sea level, sometime in the early to mid winter.  Typically, it's only an inch or two and it goes away quickly, haven fallen on above-freezing ground in the first place.  Temperatures just don't stay low enough to preserve the snow very long.  When we get any significant snow, many businesses choose to take snow holidays, and so traffic becomes very light.  Most people do not even bother to shovel - a revelation if you've lived in snowier places!

If you love your winter sports, you're still in luck!  Living in the Kitsap area means you're only a few hours' drive world class snow sports in the Cascades, or British Columbia. We truly enjoy the best of both worlds.

The actual hidden gem of our Puget Sound weather is summer:  we tend to have very dry, very sunny late springs - fall that completely belie our soggy reputation.  All that famous rain, falls in the other seasons!  Not only is that when we get the good weather, but the long days really accentuate how much sun can enjoy: on the longest day of the year, we get almost 16 hours of sunlight, with long luxurious sunrises and sunsets that seem to extend the day even further.

Unlike our friends in areas that are dry year round, such as the desert southwest or the western mountain states, our sunny weather rarely reaches scorching-hot temperatures.  We typically have days in the 80's F during the summer, and our nights always cool off dramatically.  Although tastes are changing with modern construction, most homes do not bother with air conditioning.  We do usually have a few days that spike into the 90's F - and like our occasional snow days, it's enough for us to think, "Okay, real summer made an appearance!  I'm ready for the mild stuff again . . !"

One very interesting resource for deep diving into area climate is the website Climate Temps.  While they seem to lack data right in Kitsap, they do have pages for nearby Port Townsend, Olympia, and Seattle/Tacoma - and these will give you a very similar profile to Kitsap.

If you are considering relocating to the Kitsap area, we hope this gives you a clearer view of the climate we ourselves love.  Give Dupuis Team a call, and let us help you find the home of your dreams!